Teenager John Iddon is using his computer skills to give back to the community with his new foundation, Computers for Kids. The Fernie Secondary School student is gathering used computers, rebuilding them, and offering them free of charge to Elk Valley kids and teenagers who can’t afford a new computer.
“It’s something I’m good at and I have a passion for,” said John. “I thought if I can do some stuff for kids at our school, it’s a way I can help out that is in my niche.”
At the age of 14, John earned his CompTIA A+ certification, which covers the fundamentals of computer technology, as well as the skills required to install and configure PCs, laptops, and basic networking. John, who is now 16, commented, “I’ve been learning from my grandfather since I was just tiny, and I’ve been working on used computers for a while.”
John will be taking donated used desktops and laptops, wiping them clear of data, and then gathering the necessary parts to go with the computers.
“We want to try to hook up these kids with a whole set up with a monitor, mouse, and keyboard,” explained John. “So they can get into this internet age we’re all in, and just so they can access something they wouldn’t have been able to before.”
He added, “It’s nice too because before these computers would go off into the landfill, so we can reuse them a little more and help get them to kids in the area.”
Computers for Kids is a non-profit society, and John will be offering his services free of charge to the local kids who need them the most.
“I’m going to be talking with some of the counselors at school to find out who’s in need. I’ll probably also advertise it around a bit and have people submit why they would need such a thing and what they want to do with it.”
The next step for John is sourcing out used computers from the community.
“I have received some from my parent’s business,” he said. “We’re trying to start getting attention to have more donated so we can start repairing them and re-piece things together, so we can get computers out to these kids.”
Used computers and parts can be dropped off at Fernie Auto Parts, located at 2 Manitou Road. For more information on Computers for Kids, contact John at comp.for.kids@gmail.com.